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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27292405">Cold Snake</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArteaCactus/pseuds/ArteaCactus'>ArteaCactus</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Thomceit Week 2020 [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sanders Sides (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders &amp; Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders Are Twins, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, M/M, Protective Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Snowball Fight, The Imagination Room (Sanders Sides)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 10:14:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,563</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27292405</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArteaCactus/pseuds/ArteaCactus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Janus really didn't do well in the cold, but he tried powering through it for the others. Which was probably one of the biggest mistakes he'd ever made.</p><p>Day Seven of Thomceit Week 2020.</p><p>Prompts: First snow / Pillow fight / Hugs</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders &amp; Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders &amp; Deceit | Janus Sanders, Deceit | Janus Sanders/Thomas Sanders</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Thomceit Week 2020 [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1983355</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>86</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cold Snake</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>aaa i dont know much about hypothermia so I'm rlly sorry abt inaccuracies-- i researched as much as i could to get things right!!</p><p>un-beta'd! enjoy! also cross posted to tumblr under hissceit &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Janus was starting to regret the decisions he made that brought him to this point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Living in Florida, snow was a rarity. Janus was perfectly happy with that- being part snake, he didn’t do well in the cold, and was </span>
  <em>
    <span>absolutely fine</span>
  </em>
  <span> with constant heat and humidity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unfortunately, he seemed to be the only one that had that opinion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As fall hit and the temperatures were just as sweltering as usual, Janus could practically feel the envy rise in the others as posts about fall and changing leaves flooded Thomas’ timeline on Twitter, when they were stuck with warm, sweaty days, where the closest thing to fall was the increasing number of days filled with wind and rain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The clock was ticking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Janus was counting down the days.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Any time now..</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thomas!”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>There </span>
  </em>
  <span>it was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thomas jumped up from where he was hunched over at his desk in his room, eyes wide and appearing frazzled as he swung around to see Roman, dripping wet and red-faced, but looking oh-so pleased with himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Roman?” He questioned, rubbing his eyes tiredly, dragging his gaze from his Creative facet towards Janus, who was lounging on Thomas’ bed in a black silk robe and face mask, hair in a towel and swishing wine around delicately in a glass. Janus shrugged at Thomas’ silent questioning; he didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually </span>
  </em>
  <span>know what Roman was about to announce this time, but he had a pretty good guess. Still, he kept quiet just in case he was wrong because he </span>
  <em>
    <span>absolutely </span>
  </em>
  <span>didn’t want to give Roman any ideas.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re not </span>
  <em>
    <span>busy</span>
  </em>
  <span>, are you?” Roman looked jittery, bouncing on his heels as he spoke.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh.. kind of?” Thomas replied sheepishly, gesturing towards his desk full of papers and various bills. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Roman waved his hand dismissively, “Eh, bills aren’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>important,” He ignored Thomas’ sputtering as he tried to insist that </span>
  <em>
    <span>yes, they very much are</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and plowed on, “But </span>
  <em>
    <span>listen</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Thomas. It’s late October, yes?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah?” Thomas, more confused than ever, replied dumbly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And plenty of folks up in the northern states are already getting snow and cold weather, yes?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Janus shut his eyes, resigning himself to his fate as Thomas replied with another affirmative. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, all of us in the good ol’ Mind Palace are sick of having this gross, </span>
  <em>
    <span>hot </span>
  </em>
  <span>weather during this time of year, and we have a solution!” Roman’s energy, somehow, raised a notch and he grabbed a hold of Thomas’ arms, pulling him off his chair and swinging him in circles. “So, take a break from your work, because today is a </span>
  <em>
    <span>snow day</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A </span>
  <em>
    <span>snow </span>
  </em>
  <span>day?” Thomas gaped, “I- Roman, you’re aware of where we </span>
  <em>
    <span>live</span>
  </em>
  <span>, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I believe what Roman is </span>
  <em>
    <span>trying </span>
  </em>
  <span>to say,” Janus sighed, sitting up in his spot and downing the rest of the wine in his glass, half wishing he had something stronger to get him through the rest of the day and what was to come, “Is that he turned the Imagination into, for lack of a better term, a </span>
  <em>
    <span>winter wonderland</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Exactly</span>
  </em>
  <span>, S-lie-therin!” Roman beamed, and the realization dawned on Thomas.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He shuffled awkwardly out of Roman’s grip, cringing at how Roman’s cold, wet hands dampened his shirt, “So, you came in here, soaking wet and cold, expecting that I would jump away from my work and responsibilities the moment you announced that you covered the Imagination in </span>
  <em>
    <span>snow</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y- ah, yes?” At least he looked a </span>
  <em>
    <span>little </span>
  </em>
  <span>sheepish once Thomas laid it all out in front of him like that, and Janus felt hopeful that maybe, just </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe </span>
  </em>
  <span>Thomas would refuse and go back to his work and Janus could continue relaxing in the delightfully warm bedroom; but, he could never have anything good, could he?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then you are </span>
  <em>
    <span>absolutely </span>
  </em>
  <span>correct.” Thomas’ eyes lit up, and Janus fell back onto the pillows with a groan, but it was drowned out by Roman’s excited yelling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Janus wasn’t really the </span>
  <em>
    <span>gut feeling </span>
  </em>
  <span>type, but he had a feeling this was going to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>awful</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As it turned out, his gut feeling was entirely accurate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Janus trudged through </span>
  <em>
    <span>ungodly </span>
  </em>
  <span>amounts of snow layered on the ground, bundled up with a thick, fur-lined coat, a wool scarf, fur-lined gloves, and an insulated hat (sue him for trying to keep up his aesthetic while he was forced to go through torture). </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Next to him was Thomas, significantly less bundled up (and Janus was going to lecture him on </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>later when he fell ill from the cold; Imagination or not, it affected Thomas all the same), but he was holding onto Janus' hand and he was exceedingly grateful for the extra heat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>In front of them was Roman, who was wearing just as few warm clothes as Thomas, leading them off towards what Janus could only assume was where everyone else was hanging about- if the sounds of screaming and laughter meant anything. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And sure enough, as they topped the hill, Janus' legs aching from the strain of not only holding the weight of the heavy warm clothes, but also trudging through thick snow going uphill, they came face to face with the rest of the group that Roman had apparently invited earlier. The snow, where it had before been glittering and undisturbed, was an absolute mess and getting thrown around every which way; Janus just barely managed to dodge a snowball to the face, his eyes narrowing in mild annoyance as Remus shouted, '</span>
  <em>
    <span>Sorry, J-anus!</span>
  </em>
  <span>' to him after. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thomas! Janus!" Patton cheered happily in greeting as they crept closer, and ducked away from the intense fighting for a moment as Roman got pelted in the face with a handful of snow by Virgil, "I thought you two were busy?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We were," Janus grumped, but Thomas seemed just as chipper as Patton as he replied, "I was, but I thought it would be nice to take a little break from work and hang out here. Plus, I didn't think Roman was going to take no for an answer," He admitted, guiding Janus away from the warzone and instead towards Logan, who was sitting next to a tree with a book in hand. He was, thankfully, just as bundled as Janus was- </span>
  <em>
    <span>at least one Side here had a brain cell,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Janus thought, nodding politely in greeting as he sat. Thankfully, one of the twins had been gracious enough to provide one patch of grass underneath a looming pine tree to sit on- presumably for Logan, but Logan didn't seem to argue as Janus and Thomas sat next to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The grass was still freezing, but, well. It was the thought that counted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Patton fleed back into the fighting, chucking soft snowballs in random directions, sitting behind a tall mound of snow for cover with Virgil. Evidently, they had formed teams, and they were against the twins. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Remus and Roman, of course, were just as intense as expected, chucking snowballs at full force to either knock the wind out of them or topple over their wall of protection. Virgil matched them in intensity, but he was significantly more agile than the two of them, dodging the projectiles or even catching them to throw back. Patton, meanwhile, just seemed happy to supply Virgil with as much snow as he needed to attack with.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Janus, as bundled as he was, already felt a deep chill settle into his bones, shivering as he clutched his fur-lined cloak closer to himself. No one else seemed nearly as bothered as he was, and he grit his teeth as he realized if he wanted to flee back into the comforting warmth of the house, he was going to have to admit defeat and ask to be escorted back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And, well. He had too much pride for that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So, as time went on, as his fingertips were going numb and his face scarlet red as the cold breeze whipped snowflakes against his cheeks, he tried to cling to as much warmth as he possibly could- holding onto Thomas, leaning his weight into the other and desperately leeching as much heat off of him as he could. Thomas was clueless to Janus' growing drowsiness as the cold clung to his skin, and part of him was almost frustrated- Thomas was his </span>
  <em>
    <span>significant other</span>
  </em>
  <span>, surely he would have noticed </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>was off, plus he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>how snakes got in the cold- but the better part of him knew that Thomas wasn't even truly aware of how deep Janus' snake traits ran, and they had never really spent time in the snow before, so he would have no way of knowing if this was just how Janus acted when he was cold or if something </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>truly wrong. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eventually, </span>
  <em>
    <span>somehow</span>
  </em>
  <span>, they'd managed to rope Logan into fighting with them, and as the numbers became uneven, Logan was left to fend for himself, desperately trying to avoid getting hit from both sides while also trying to land some hits in himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thomas!" Roman called from his hideout behind his and Remus' mountain of snow, "You should come be on Logan's team, we're two versus two versus one!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Janus tensed up, a rush of anxiety flooding through him as Thomas laughed and shuffled in his spot next to him. Like previously stated, Janus had never really spent time emerged in snow before, and he was more or less relying on Thomas' body heat next to him to remain warm (the fur-lined clothing had truly failed him), and he had no clue if he would be fine or </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>if his source of warmth had left him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do you think you'd be okay by yourself for a moment?" Thomas murmured, his warm gloved hand clutching Janus' arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But, well. As </span>
  <em>
    <span>also </span>
  </em>
  <span>previously stated, he had too much pride to </span>
  <em>
    <span>plead </span>
  </em>
  <span>for Thomas to stay.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course," Janus replied, gently nudging Thomas up, "Go on, play like children, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>heathens</span>
  </em>
  <span>."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thomas rolled his eyes, but pushed himself upright, smiling happily at Janus as he meandered off to join Logan's side, immediately getting a snowball to the face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Janus cackled at the answering offended yell, and clutched his cloak tighter as the air beat against his newly exposed side, quickly becoming just as frozen as the rest of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He watched the rest of the fight through half-lidded eyes, the cold biting at his skin and making his drowsiness increase. It wasn’t enough to cause concern, though, so, well. He kept quiet and watched the others have their fun. Plus, he wasn’t quite sure why, but he felt himself </span>
  <em>
    <span>warming up</span>
  </em>
  <span> the longer he sat there- odd, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uhh, Janus? What’re you doing there, sweetheart?” Thomas called minutes later, concern coating his tone as he watched Janus unclip and remove his thick, fur-lined cloak, dropping it unceremoniously on the ground next to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thomas’ voice briefly paused the war and the group stared on in confusion, Janus panting as if he were overheating, pulling the gloves off his hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Warm,” Janus slurred, eyes half-lidded and blinking blearily at Thomas, “Too.. hot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thomas jumped in surprise as Logan cursed loudly, practically vaulting over the mounds of snow by their feet and darting over to Janus, stopping him from pulling off his fur-lined jacket. “Roman, Remus, someone- come here, pick him up, we need to get back to the Mind Palace, </span>
  <em>
    <span>now</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wh- </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Thomas fretted, unused to seeing Logan so quick to jump to action- Remus didn’t bother asking questions, he ran so quick over to Janus that Thomas wasn’t even sure his feet touched the ground, and picked him up carefully, Janus hanging limply from his arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Janus is exhibiting signs of extreme hypothermia- it should have been impossible to reach such a stage so fast, especially with such clothing, but I supposed I underestimated how far down his snake traits carry,” Logan explained as Thomas rushed over to join them, following close behind as the group shuffled quickly to the door of the Imagination to exit back into the warm Mind Palace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Janus made a soft noise, gripping Remus’ scarf weakly, “I’m- I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Janus mumbled, but all sound around him started to blur together until he was hearing nothing but his heart’s slow beating in his ears, and eventually, he passed out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He woke up delightfully warm and comfortable, laying on top of something cushiony- something was wrapped around him, puffs of air hitting his throat, and he managed to crack open his eyes to see himself laying in his own bed, heat lamp positioned above him, face pressed into his silk bedsheets. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sleepily, he rolled himself over and found he was wrapped up in Thomas’ arms, his face pressed into the crook of his neck and breathing softly against his skin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thomas?” Janus slurred tiredly, his hands finding Thomas’ by his chest and lacing their fingers together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“‘Mm?” Thomas hummed, stretching his legs and blinking open his eyes, staring at Janus tiredly before the events prior caught up to him. Eyes flying wide, he sat abruptly upright, his grip on Janus’ hands tightening.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Janus! Oh my </span>
  <em>
    <span>God, </span>
  </em>
  <span>you had us all worried </span>
  <em>
    <span>sick-</span>
  </em>
  <span>” He hissed in panic, “Why didn’t you </span>
  <em>
    <span>tell </span>
  </em>
  <span>us you felt bad? We would have come back, or at the very least, we could have had Roman make a warm, sunny spot for you so you didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>freeze to death</span>
  </em>
  <span>-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thomas,” Janus breathed out, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “For one, I had </span>
  <em>
    <span>no </span>
  </em>
  <span>clue I would react in such a grave way with snow, I’ve never </span>
  <em>
    <span>been </span>
  </em>
  <span>in it before, and secondly, you all were having fun, who am I to interrupt that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were literally </span>
  <em>
    <span>freezing </span>
  </em>
  <span>to </span>
  <em>
    <span>death</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Janus, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>dumb snake</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” Thomas gathered Janus up into his arms and pulled him even closer than he was before, “What happened to being </span>
  <em>
    <span>self-preservation</span>
  </em>
  <span>, huh? Does that just </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>extend to yourself?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Janus huffed, “Thomas, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span>, dear, you’re exaggerating.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Thomas insisted, “Just </span>
  <em>
    <span>please </span>
  </em>
  <span>promise me to tell someone when you feel bad? I don’t want to lose you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You wouldn’t lose me,” Janus murmured, tucking himself into Thomas’ chest, appreciating the warmth he provided despite his overbearing coddling, “You couldn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>lose </span>
  </em>
  <span>a Side, we always come back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But not as yourself,” Thomas sighed, “I would get </span>
  <em>
    <span>Deceit </span>
  </em>
  <span>back, sure, but I wouldn’t get </span>
  <em>
    <span>Janus </span>
  </em>
  <span>back.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Janus didn’t reply, because Thomas was right; the </span>
  <em>
    <span>facet </span>
  </em>
  <span>would return, but as someone new, so he truly wouldn’t get him back </span>
  <em>
    <span>exactly</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Instead, he nestled into his bed, a soft breath falling from his lips. “I promise to tell you next time, love.” He assured.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thank you,” Thomas hesitated, before adding, “And I’m really sorry for not paying attention to your tells, I should have known you would react like that because of your snake features.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Janus shrugged, because he truly couldn’t blame Thomas; he himself didn’t even know. “It’s all said and done now, dear. Let’s just rest for a while, now,” He pulled the blankets up to his chin, eyes shutting happily as he basked in the warmth from Thomas and his heat lamp, and Thomas didn’t even have time to come up with a response before Janus was asleep yet again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thomas huffed, a smile on his face as he played with Janus’ hair while the other slept.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was </span>
  <em>
    <span>absolutely </span>
  </em>
  <span>going to be giving Janus a lecture when he woke up.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thanks for reading!! please leave your thoughts in the comments and kudos if you enjoyed &lt;3 thanks for a great week!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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